Focus on cruise-ship rescue pays off for CNN

CNN's strategy of focusing its coverage Thursday around the rescue of a stranded cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico lifted its ratings over MSNBC and closed the gap with Fox News. CNN in prime time was up 62% to 1.03 million viewers on average from 8 to 11 p.m., compared with MSNBC, with 867,000 viewers on average, and Fox, with 2.14 million on average. CNN for the whole day scored 632,000 viewers on average, a 50% jump over a typical Thursday, compared with 535,000 for MSNBC and 1.38 million for Fox.